2007 Seville municipal election

2007 Seville municipal election

←  2003 27 May 2007 2011  →
All 33 seats in the City Council of Seville 17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	565,792 2.8%
Turnout	308,999 (54.6%) 4.0 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Juan Ignacio Zoido Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín Antonio Rodrigo Party PP PSOE–A IULV–CA Leader since 28 June 2006 27 June 1998 30 September 2006 Last election 12 seats, 35.2% 14 seats, 38.6% 3 seats, 9.0% Seats won 15 15 3 Seat change 3 1 0 Popular vote 128,776 124,534 25,772 Percentage 41.8% 40.5% 8.4% Swing 6.6 pp 1.9 pp 0.6 pp
Mayor before election Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín PSOE Elected mayor Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín PSOE

A municipal election was held in Seville on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect the 8th City Council of the municipality. All 33 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

Overview

Under the 1978 Constitution, the governance of municipalities in Spain—part of the country's local government system—was centered on the figure of city councils (Spanish : ayuntamientos), local corporations with independent legal personality composed of a mayor, a government council and an elected legislative assembly. ^{[1] [2]} In the case of Seville, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Seville. ^[3]

Electoral system

Voting for local assemblies was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality of Seville and in full enjoyment of their political rights (provided that they were not sentenced—by a final court ruling—to deprivation of the right to vote), as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty. ^{[2] [4] [5]}

Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes (which included blank ballots) being applied in each municipality. ^[6] Each municipality constituted a multi-member constituency, entitled a number of seats based on the following scale: ^[7]

Population	Councillors
<250	5
251–1,000	7
1,001–2,000	9
2,001–5,000	11
5,001–10,000	13
10,001–20,000	17
20,001–50,000	21
50,001–100,000	25
>100,001	+1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction +1 if total is an even number

The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occurred after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislative term were to be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when required, by the designated substitutes. ^[8]

The mayor was indirectly elected by the local assembly. ^[2] A legal clause required candidates to earn the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee was to be determined by lot. ^[9]

Election date

The term of city councils in Spain expired four years after the date of their previous election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years (as of 2025, this has been the year before a leap year). The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE). ^[10] The previous election was held on 25 May 2003, setting the date for election day on Sunday, 27 May 2007.

Local councils could not be dissolved before the expiry of their term, except in cases of mismanagement that seriously harmed the public interest and implied a breach of constitutional obligations, in which case the Council of Ministers could—optionally—agree to call a by-election. ^[11]

Elections to local councils not bound to the open council system were officially called on 3 April 2007 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 27 May. ^[12]

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. In the case of Seville, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required. ^[13] Amendments to the electoral law in 2007 introduced requirements for a balanced composition of men and women in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition. ^[14]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
						Vote %	Seats
	PSOE–A	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia (PSOE–A)		Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín	Social democracy	38.6%	14		[15]
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Juan Ignacio Zoido	Conservatism Christian democracy	35.2%	12		[16]
	PA	List Andalusian Party (PA)		Agustín Villar	Andalusian nationalism Social democracy	12.3%	4		[17]
	IULV–CA	List United Left/The Greens–Assembly for Andalusia (IULV–CA) – Communist Party of Andalusia (PCA) – Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR)		Antonio Rodrigo	Socialism Communism	9.0%	3		[18] [19]

Opinion polls

The tables below list opinion polling results in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll.

Voting intention estimates

The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Seville.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				IULV	Lead
2007 municipal election	27 May 2007	—	54.6	40.5 15	41.8 15	4.5 0	8.4 3	1.3
Ipsos/RTVE–FORTA [p 1]	27 May 2007	?	?	? 15/17	? 14/16	? 0/1	? 2/3	?
Opina/El País [p 2] [p 3]	14 May 2007	600	?	45.0 16/17	37.0 13	5.0 0/1	9.5 3	8.0
Estio/El Correo [p 4]	8–12 May 2007	1,300	?	42.1 15	40.7 14/15	5.5 1/2	7.0 2	1.4
Ipsos/Grupo Joly [p 4]	30 Apr–11 May 2007	800	?	38.5 13/14	38.1 13/14	9.0 3	8.5 3	0.4
Metroscopia/ABC [p 5]	9–10 May 2007	800	60.0	42.5 14/15	41.7 14/15	5.0 0/1	8.8 2/3	0.8
Opina/Cadena SER [p 6] [p 7] [p 8]	9 May 2007	800	?	42.9 15/16	41.6 15	5.0 0/1	8.0 3	1.3
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 9] [p 10]	2–9 May 2007	400	?	42.5 14/16	41.5 14/15	5.2 0/2	7.1 2	1.0
CIS [p 11]	9–29 Apr 2007	1,000	?	42.8 15	36.9 12/13	8.6 3	8.3 2/3	5.9
Insomer/PA [p 12]	15–18 Apr 2007	1,100	?	37.1 13	38.6 13/14	13.7 4	7.8 2	1.5
Ipsos/Grupo Joly [p 13]	1 Mar 2007	?	?	39.7 14/15	35.0 12/13	10.4 3	9.6 3	4.7
CANP/El Correo [p 14]	5–14 Feb 2007	1,100	?	38.6 14	38.7 14	8.1 2	8.6 3	0.1
Sociatae Estudios/PP [p 15]	27 Nov–15 Dec 2006	1,500	?	34.7 12/13	39.8 14/15	10.7 3	10.2 3	5.1
Insomer/PA [p 16] [p 17]	16–24 Nov 2006	1,100	?	35.1 12	41.5 14	12.4 4	8.9 3	6.4
Ipsos/Grupo Joly [p 18]	16 Apr 2006	?	?	38.0 14	36.7 13/14	10.0 3	9.0 3	1.3
El Correo [p 19]	3 Apr 2006	?	?	38.6 14/15	35.0 13/14	12.3 3	9.0 2	3.6
Sigma Dos/PP [p 20]	9–10 May 2005	600	?	39.2 13/14	39.0 13/14	8.6 3	9.2 3	0.2
2004 EP election	13 Jun 2004	—	42.0	50.4 (18)	39.8 (15)	3.2 (0)	4.7 (0)	10.6
2004 regional election	14 Mar 2004	—	76.3	48.8 (17)	33.1 (12)	5.8 (2)	7.3 (2)	15.7
2004 general election	14 Mar 2004	—	76.3	52.4 (19)	34.5 (12)	3.8 (0)	5.6 (2)	17.9
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	—	58.6	38.6 14	35.2 12	12.3 4	9.0 3	3.4

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size				IULV	?	N	Lead
2007 municipal election	27 May 2007	—	22.0	22.8	2.4	4.6	—	45.4	0.8
CIS [p 11]	9–29 Apr 2007	1,000	37.5	16.8	2.8	4.3	24.3	10.9	20.7
CANP/El Correo [p 14]	5–14 Feb 2007	1,100	32.8	22.8	2.5	3.8	–	–	10.0
2004 EP election	13 Jun 2004	—	21.1	16.7	1.3	2.0	—	58.0	4.4
2004 regional election	14 Mar 2004	—	37.1	25.1	4.4	5.6	—	23.7	12.0
2004 general election	14 Mar 2004	—	39.8	26.2	2.9	4.3	—	23.7	13.6
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	—	22.5	20.5	7.2	5.2	—	41.4	2.0

Victory preferences

The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a municipal election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size				IULV	Other/ None	?	Lead
CIS [p 11]	9–29 Apr 2007	1,000	43.0	20.4	3.6	5.3	8.2	19.5	22.6

Victory likelihood

The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a municipal election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size				IULV	Other/ None	?	Lead
CIS [p 11]	9–29 Apr 2007	1,000	61.7	7.4	0.5	0.4	0.6	29.4	54.3

Preferred Mayor

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become mayor of Seville.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size					Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Monteseirín PSOE–A	Zoido PP	Villar PA	Rodrigo IULV
Opina/Cadena SER [p 8]	9 May 2007	800	36.0	26.0	–	–	38.0		10.0
CIS [p 11]	9–29 Apr 2007	1,000	34.3	15.8	2.4	3.1	4.3	40.1	18.5

Predicted Mayor

The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood for each leader to become mayor.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Monteseirín PSOE–A	Zoido PP
Opina/Cadena SER [p 8]	9 May 2007	800	67.0	10.0	23.0		57.0

Results

← Summary of the 27 May 2007 City Council of Seville election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	128,776	41.84	+6.64	15	+3
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia (PSOE–A)	124,534	40.46	+1.86	15	+1
	United Left/The Greens–Assembly for Andalusia (IULV–CA)	25,772	8.37	−0.60	3	±0
	Andalusian Party (PA)	13,839	4.50	−7.82	0	−4
	The Greens 2007 (LV2007)	3,207	1.04	−0.30	0	±0
	Socialist Party of Andalusia (PSA)	2,179	0.71	+0.17	0	±0
	Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	724	0.24	New	0	±0
	Republican Left (IR)	593	0.19	New	0	±0
	Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn)	525	0.17	New	0	±0
	For a Fairer World (PUM+J)	523	0.17	New	0	±0
	Group of Independent Citizens (GCI)	519	0.17	−0.14	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)1	280	0.09	±0.00	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	221	0.07	−0.02	0	±0
Blank ballots		6,110	1.99	−0.48
Total		307,802			33	±0
Valid votes		307,802	99.61	+0.05
Invalid votes		1,197	0.39	−0.05
Votes cast / turnout		308,999	54.61	−3.94
Abstentions		256,793	45.39	+3.94
Registered voters		565,792
Sources [20] [21] [22]
Footnotes: 1 Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO results are compared to Independent Spanish Phalanx–Phalanx 2000 totals in the 2003 election.

Popular vote

PP			41.84%
PSOE–A			40.46%
IULV–CA			8.37%
PA			4.50%
LV2007			1.04%
Others			1.81%
Blank ballots			1.99%

Seats

PP			45.45%
PSOE–A			45.45%
IULV–CA			9.09%

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →		16 June 2007
Required majority →		17 out of 33
	Alfredo S. Monteseirín (PSOE–A) • PSOE–A (15) • IULV–CA (3)	18 / 33	Y
	Juan Ignacio Zoido (PP) • PP (15)	15 / 33	N
	Blank ballots	0 / 33
	Absentees	0 / 33
Sources [23]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "La encuesta de Ipsos no pronostica cambios en las principales capitales andaluzas". 20 Minutos (in Spanish). 27 May 2007.
2. "El PP se crece en Madrid y Valencia y el PSOE amarra Barcelona y Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). 21 May 2007.
3. "Los socialistas acarician la mayoría absoluta en Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). 21 May 2007.
4. "Tres encuestas dan un empate técnico al PSOE y PP en Ayuntamiento de Sevilla". 20 minutos (in Spanish). 21 May 2007.
5. "El PP recorta distancias y logra en estos momentos un empate técnico con el PSOE". ABC (in Spanish). 20 May 2007.
6. "Los socialistas revalidarán su gobierno en Sevilla". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 13 May 2007.
7. "Informe Sevilla. Mayo 2007". Opina (in Spanish). 13 May 2007.
8. "El PA podría dejar el Ayuntamiento de Sevilla, según el sondeo de la SER". El País (in Spanish). 14 May 2007.
9. "Una encuesta de 'El Mundo' da más concejales a PSOE y PP, con reedición de mandato por parte socialista". Europa Press (in Spanish). 14 May 2007.
10. "Elecciones 27-M / Sondeo El Mundo-Sigma Dos". El Mundo (in Spanish). 12 May 2007.
11. "Preelectoral elecciones municipales 2007. Sevilla (Estudio nº 2686. Abril 2007)". CIS (in Spanish). 11 May 2007.
12. "El PSOE baja, el PP sube y empatan en intención de voto". ABC (in Spanish). 22 April 2007.
13. "Los partidos reciben con satisfacción y distancia la foto fija de las encuestas". El País (in Spanish). 1 March 2007.
14. "Una encuesta sitúa en empate técnico los resultados de las municipales en Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). 5 March 2007.
15. "Una encuesta da al PP el triunfo en las municipales por cinco puntos". ABC (in Spanish). 9 January 2007.
16. "Una encuesta del PA da la mayoría a un gobierno del PP con los andalucistas". ABC (in Spanish). 12 December 2006.
17. "Un sondeo del PA da la victoria al PP en Sevilla y atribuye 4 ediles a su candidato". El País (in Spanish). 12 December 2006.
18. "Una encuesta de Joly prevé que PSOE e IU volverán a gobernar al sumar 17 ediles en las municipales de 2007". Europa Press (in Spanish). 16 April 2006.
19. "El PSOE y el PP se levantan la moral". ABC (in Spanish). 3 April 2006.
20. "El PP aumenta hasta dos concejales y el PSOE se mantiene, según un sondeo". ABC (in Spanish). 15 May 2005.

Other

1. Constitution (1978) , art. 140.
2. LBRL (1985) , art. 19.
3. LBRL (1985) , arts. 121–132.
4. Constitution (1978) , art. 13.
5. LOREG (1985) , arts. 2–3 & 176.
6. LOREG (1985) , arts. 163 & 180.
7. LOREG (1985) , art. 179.
8. LOREG (1985) , arts. 46, 48 & 182.
9. LOREG (1985) , art. 196.
10. LOREG (1985) , arts. 42 & 194.
11. LBRL (1985) , art. 61.
12. Real Decreto 444/2007, de 2 de abril, por el que se convocan elecciones locales y a las Asambleas de Ceuta y Melilla, para el 27 de mayo de 2007 (PDF) (Royal Decree 444/2007). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 2 April 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
13. LOREG (1985) , arts. 44 & 187.
14. LOREG (1985) , art. 44 bis.
15. "El PSOE ratifica hoy a Monteseirín como candidato a la alcaldía de Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). Seville. 18 September 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
16. "El PP designará hoy a Juan Ignacio Zoido candidato a la Alcaldía de Sevilla". ABC (in Spanish). 28 June 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
17. Carmona, María José (9 June 2006). "Agustín Villar es desde ayer el candidato oficial del PA a la Alcaldía de Sevilla". ABC (in Spanish). Seville. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
18. "Sevilla.- Valderas advierte de que la propuesta de Torrijos como candidato a la Alcaldía es sólo "la primera opinión"" (in Spanish). El Coronil: Europa Press. 28 May 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
19. "El Consejo Andaluz de IU aprueba con el 71% de los votos las candidaturas para ciudades de más de 50.000 habitantes" (in Spanish). Seville: Europa Press. 30 September 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
20. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones municipales en Sevilla (desde 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
21. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
22. "Acuerdo de 6 de julio de 2007, de la Junta Electoral Central, por el que se procede a la publicación del resumen de los resultados de las elecciones locales convocadas por Real Decreto 444/2007, de 2 de abril, y celebradas el 27 de mayo de 2007, según los datos que figuran en las actas de proclamación remitidas por cada una de las Juntas Electorales de Zona" (PDF). Official State Gazette (in Spanish) (162 (Supplement)): 1–623. 7 July 2007. ISSN   0212-033X . Retrieved 6 November 2025.
23. Lucio, Lourdes (17 June 2007). "Tercer mandato de Monteseirín en Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). Seville. Retrieved 12 November 2025.

Bibliography

• Constitución Española (Constitution). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 29 December 1978 [version as of 28 August 1992]. BOE-A-1978-31229. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
• Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local (Law 7/1985). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 2 April 1985 [version as of 13 April 2007]. BOE-A-1985-5392. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
• Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5/1985). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 19 June 1985 [version as of 20 April 2007]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 4 November 2025.